Roger
Byrne was the ultimate professional footballer of his
era. As captain of the most successful team in English football,
he led a celebrated side with strength, skill and panache to help
Matt Busby create his legendary Babes and turn them into a force
all Europe had to reckon with.

During three seasons
as captain of Manchester United,
he led the club to two League Championships, an FA Cup Final and
became the first to lead an English club team into Europe. But,
having dominated domestic football, Rogerand many of his colleagues perished amid the wreckage of
the Munich air disaster.

Forty years later the memories remain
vivid. In his fourth United book, Iain McCartney tells the heroic but
ultimately tragic story of a man who, though perhaps not the most
glamorous member of that fantastic team, is held in high affection by
all who knew him and saw him play.

Perhaps an extract
from a 1956 ‘derby’ match report best sums up Roger’s commitment.
It demonstrates a style of play not too dissimilar to United’s
latter-day captains Roy Keane and Bryan Robson.

"Here was the captain
courageous - a strong man who listened to the crowd’s boos and heard a
call to action… who listened to two stern lectures from the referee
and charged back into the game as if they had been pep talks. This was
the moment when Byrne stepped in, the longer they booed, the harder he
played. He loved it!"

On this evidence, there’s no doubt Roger
Byrne is a legend, one of United’s all-time greats.

With a foreword by Harry Gregg MBE

Published in hardback, 165pp, the book contains40 historic photographs, many previously unpublished.